Everyone here at Reds in the Community would like to congratulate Miguel Spiteri on signing his first professional deal with his hometown club Birkirkara FC!

Miguel has returned home to Malta following a successful first year studying in England, Miguel has always displayed a great attitude in class, passing his maths and English GCSE exams with grade 5’s after working alongside tutor Lucy Turner. It was not only in maths and English Miguel excelled but he also achieved D*D* on his level 3 extended diploma course.  

Here’s Miguel’s thoughts on his time with Reds in the Community: 

“I made this decision because I really liked how Reds in the Community’s education programme combined football and high-level education, my 2 passions. I really enjoyed my time there this year since the level of football was high and the BTEC LEVEL 3 Diploma in Sport I studied and completed was very interesting as well.  

On a personal note, it was great for me to have had the opportunity to train with both the u18 and u23 academy youth teams of Barnsley FC during this year, training with great players and coaches.  

All of the coaches and tutors at the Barnsley Shadow Scholarship were incredibly friendly from the first day till the last and this attitude made me feel very at home and made it easier for me in the adaptation process of living in a foreign country on my own for the first time without my family.  

Personally I would recommend this Shadow Scholarship to anyone who wants to study a very interesting sports course while also not having to sacrifice the football aspect since high-level football training sessions, games, strength and conditioning and yoga sessions are delivered throughout the week.  

In my opinion, coming to spend a year at Barnsley was a great choice for my future both academically and in football and that is why I would like to thank all of my tutors, coaches and all the staff for always helping me and encouraging me throughout the year.” 

Miguel has a wealth of footballing experience, such as playing for Getafe CF in Spain, and captaining the Malta U17 national side, before being promoted to the U19’s. During his time with Reds in the Community, Miguel has worked closely with goalkeeper coach Paul Heritage and displayed a great attitude and willingness to develop. During this time Miguel also trained with Barnsley FC’s U18 and U23 squad, learning from fellow professional players, and highly regarded coaches.  

Over the course of the academic year Miguel has consistently high achieving student making sure he achieved distinction grades in every unit, at the same time would often leave us for 2-weeks to go on international duty. The commitment and endeavor displayed by Miguel during these times was admirable, therefore not making it hard to understand why such an established, highly regarded club would want to sign him! 

Head of Education Mark Crossfield said 

“Miguel demonstrated what he was all about from the very start of the programme. His attitude and professionalism are top draw, every lesson and every training session was a maximum effort for Miguel, he is the most consistent student I have ever worked with.

English is a second language to Miguel, to be honest even 3rd or 4th language as he is also fluent in Italian and Spanish. But he demonstrated an exceptional ability from the beginning to constantly excel in all environments achieving exceptional grades. It is a shame he won’t be studying and training with us next year, but I’m very pleased that Miguel has secured a professional football contract.” 

Everyone at Reds in the Community would like to wish Miguel all the best for the future and wish you all the best in your footballing career and outside of football!